Electric Car Brands: A Definitive Guide

Since electric vehicles were adopted into the mainstream during the mid-to-late 2010s, the current landscape of the EV landscape has shifted dramatically from what it was. Whilst it was Tesla who sparked the electric automotive revolution with its Lotus Elise-based Roadster, legacy car manufacturers such as BMW, Audi, and Ford quickly recognized the cost and social benefits – lower fuel bills, less pollution, and no clattery engine notes – that come with having an EV in their line-up.

As the 2010s rolled into the 2020s, a new charge of dedicated EV makers led by the likes of Rivian and Lucid Motors came to the fore. Meanwhile, mainstream manufacturers began developing their own, ground-up EVs. The EV world is one that ebbs and flows. However, this is a list of some of the most important electric car brands so far in 2024.

To give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources, including the EPA. The brands are listed in no particular order.

1 Tesla

Year Of Foundation: 2003 | First EV – Tesla Roadster: 2008

Despite the current layoffs at Tesla, the Texas-based auto manufacturer is almost single-handedly responsible for bringing EV adoption into the mainstream. Founded in 2003 and co-owned by Elon Musk, Tesla’s debut car was the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster in 2008. The Tesla Roadster was the world’s first highway-legal, serial production car to use lithium-ion battery cells, and the first full EV to travel 244 miles on a single charge. In 2012, Tesla once again revolutionized the EV game when it launched the Model S, which showed that an electric car could also be luxurious and offer buyers a strong range.

Table Of Current EV Models

Tesla’s biggest success story to date is its mid-sized Model 3 sedan. Since its release in 2017, the Model 3 has been the best-selling EV in the U.S. in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023. For 2024, Tesla has issued the Model 3 a raft of updates, including a new front-end and an increased range. Alongside the Model 3 and Model S, Tesla’s current line-up includes the Model Y and Model X SUVs, and the Tesla Cybertruck. At the time of writing, Tesla’s market capitalization is worth an estimated $564.37 billion.

2 Polestar

Year Of Foundation: 2017 | First EV – Polestar 2: 2020

Polestar started life as Volvo’s performance arm; Sweden’s answer to BMW M, Mercedes-AMG, and Audi Sport. In 2017, Volvo and its parent company, Geely, announced that Polestar would become a standalone all-electric carmaker. In 2020, Polestar released its first full EV, the Polestar 2. With its minimalist design, gimmick-free approach to the electric car experience, and use of sustainable materials inside and out, the Gothenburg brand quickly became synonymous with Scandinavian cool.

Table Of Current EV Models

Alongside the Polestar 2, Polestar offers the Polestar 3 full-size SUV and the Polestar 4 SUV Coupé – both of which are set to arrive Stateside later in 2024. Polestar’s way of naming cars is chronological and somewhat novel. The Polestar 2 was the second car it launched, the 3 was the third, and the 4 the fourth, although the Polestar 4 is cheaper than the Polestar 3.

CEO Thomas Ingenlath also announced that a Polestar 5 GT will join the line-up in 2025. Polestar began trading shares on NASDAQ under the ‘PSNY’ symbol in 2022, and in 2024, Volvo announced it would reduce its stake in Polestar to Geely from 48.3 percent to approximately 18 percent by the year’s third quarter.

3 Lucid Motors

Year Of Foundation: 2007 (As “Atieva”) | First EV – Lucid Air: 2021

Lucid Motors was founded in 2007 as Atieva by former Tesla Vice President, Bernard Tse. Atieva initially focused on building batteries and all-electric power trains for other EV manufacturers. However, in 2016, the newly-renamed Lucid Motors announced it would focus on building luxury EV cars in the 2020s. Lucid Motors’ first car was the Air. Launched in 2021, this luxurious all-electric sedan is available in four trim levels. In the flagship ‘Sapphire’ guise, the Lucid Air returns 1,234 horsepower and will launch from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 1.89 seconds. In 2023, the Lucid Air won the World Luxury Car Of The Year award.

Table Of Current EV Models

The same year, Lucid announced that in 2025, it would launch its second EV, the Gravity SUV. Lucid will also supply electric motors, powertrains, and battery systems to Aston Martin for its upcoming EV range. In return, the British sports car manufacturer will take a $232 million – or 3.7 percent stake – in Lucid. Further shareholders in the Arizona-based carmaker include the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia (59.7 percent) and Blackrock (2.15 percent).

4 Fisker Inc.

Year Of Foundation: 2016 | First EV – Fisker Ocean: 2023

Born from the ashes of Fisker Motors – the manufacturer responsible for the Fisker Karma of the mid-2000s – Fisker Inc. was set up as an EV-only car brand in 2016 by Henrik Fisker and his wife, Geeta Gupta-Fisker. Its first new vehicle, the Fisker Ocean, was released in 2023, with 10,142 units produced. Despite having delivered almost 4,700 Oceans to markets in the United States and Europe at the end of last year, the future of Fisker looks bleak for 2024 and beyond.

Table Of Current EV Models

Earlier this year, the California carmaker announced a net loss of over $463 million in 2023. On the back of the losses, Fisker announced it would reduce its workforce, pause production of the Ocean, and halt development of its upcoming Pear supermini. Magna Steyr – the Austrian automotive contractor responsible for manufacturing the Fisker Ocean – also announced it expected to not build any more vehicles for Fisker.

On the back of its financial woes, Fisker was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and to regain some of the losses, it slashed the starting price of its Ocean range from $37,499 to $24,999 for a little time, but has has listed the price as $37,499 again at the time of writing this.

5 Rivian

Year Of Foundation: 2009 | First EV – Rivian R1T: 2021

Rivian was founded by Robert Scaringe in the 2000s when it started as an outdoor recreation brand, and its moniker comes from the ‘Indian River’ where Scaringe grew up in Florida. True to its outdoorsy origins, in 2017, Rivian announced it was planning to build an all-electric five-seat passenger pickup and a seven-seat SUV.

Launched in 2021, these would respectively become the Rivian R1T and R1S. Both models are based on Rivian’s ‘skateboard’ platform, an industry-wide EV structure that houses batteries, electric motors, and regenerative braking and charging systems. Other carmakers using the ‘skateboard’ platform include Hyundai, Geely, and Volkswagen.

Table Of Current EV Models

With its futuristic styling, oodles of cabin and storage space, and up to 835 horsepower at higher-end trim levels, the Rivian R1T was a runaway success. Despite Rivian’s expansion across the United States and into Europe, a recent report from Investor’s Business Daily wrote that the brand lost $38,000 on each R1T and R1S sold during the first quarter of 2024.

However, the brand remains undeterred and has announced two future all-electric SUVs: the mid-sized R3, and the compact R2. The EDV or ‘Electric Delivery Van‘ is also produced as a collaborative effort by Rivian and its 18.1 percent owner, Amazon.

6 Ford

Year Of Foundation: 1903 | First Mass-Market Production EV – Ford Focus Electric: 2011

Ford is one of the legacy carmakers that have been involved with EVs since its foundation – the Blue Oval’s first all-electric car was the Detroit Electric of 1914. However, the first contemporary Ford was the Focus Electric, which debuted in 2011 and packed a 23-kilowatt-hour battery and an EPA range of 76 miles.

Whilst the Focus Electric was a rather fringe vehicle, around a decade later, Ford incorporated its Mustang Mach-E sports SUV into its range. Despite much pearl-clutching from the Detroit Diehard that Ford dared to use one of its most sacred nameplates on an EV, the Mach-E stays true to the ethos of the original Pony Car of the 1960s: it’s cheap with a starting MSRP of $39,995, and it’s quick. The Ford Mustang-E shifts from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds courtesy of the 264 electric horses in its single electric motor.

Table Of Current EV Models

The second all-electric model in Ford’s line-up is the F-150 Lightning. Introduced in 2022, the Lightning is an electrified version of one of America’s most beloved vehicles and can return up to 300 miles of range in flagship ‘Platinum’ trim. Within four days of the F-150 Lightning being announced, Ford revealed it had received 69,500 refundable deposits for the vehicle.

As of 2025, all new Ford EVs will be compatible with the fast-charging Tesla Supercharger network. Models built prior will be offered a Tesla direct current North American Charging System (NACS) adapter to ensure their owners do not miss out on access to the 12,000 charger-strong Supercharger network across the United States.

7 BMW

Year Of Foundation: 1916 | First Mass-Market Production EV – BMW i3: 2013

Like Ford, BMW is one of the legacy carmakers that has had an EV as a constant in its line-up since the beginning of the 2010s. Whilst Ford chose to electrify the Mk.3 Focus as its first contemporary all-electric car, Munich went the other way; the BMW i3 was a brand new, ground-up EV featuring a bespoke advanced carbon fiber tub and an aluminum chassis. BMW halted production of the i3 in 2022 as it wasn’t able to produce it quickly or cheaply enough for big volumes. In short, the i3 was a money loser for BMW.

Table Of Current EV Models

Yet the i3 was a trailblazer. It showed that Munich could build an electric car that retained all the sharp performance and handling traits of its Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) models, albeit with the quiet and wallet-friendly nature of running an EV. On the back of the i3, BMW now sells the 4 Series-based i4, the 5 Series-based i5, and the 7 Series-based i7. Another EV, the iX SUV is a purpose-built EV built on bespoke aluminum and carbon fiber underpinnings. In 2025, BMW will add a series of ‘Neue Klasse‘ EVs and a new iX3 to its existing line-up.

8 Audi e-tron

Year Of Foundation: 1909 | First Mass-Market Production EV – Audi e-Tron: 2018

Despite having flirted with EVs since the late 2000s, Audi’s foray into the world of fully electric vehicles wasn’t until 2018 when it began production of its Audi e-tron; an SUV with a 204-mile EPA range, and a 95-kilowatt hour battery. In 2022, the model was renamed the Q8 e-tron, and like the rest of the brand’s SUV range, it is built on the Volkswagen Group’s modular MLB platform.

Table Of Current EV Models

Ingolstadt’s EV line-up is predominantly SUVs. Alongside the Q8 e-tron, there is the Q4 e-tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback, plus the performance-focused triple-motor SQ8 and SQ8 Sportback. However, the e-tron GT is an electrified, four-door grand tourer, which shares its platform with the Porsche Taycan. The e-tron GT’s twin motor layout and 90-kilowatt hour battery afford it 582 horsepower, and an EPA range of 238 miles.

Audi’s e-tron range can trace its roots back to its LMP program in the FIA World Endurance Championship, when it ran its Le Mans-winning R18 e-tron quattro from 2012 to 2016 with a hybrid system to devastating effect, taking three wins from five at the world’s most iconic endurance race.

9 Kia

Year Of Foundation: 1944 | First Mass-Market Production EV – Kia Soul EV: 2014

April 2024 saw Kia set a new sales record in the United States, with 5,000 EVs sold alone Stateside. Since it released its first all-electric car, Soul EV in 2014, the South Korean carmaker has become one of the most popular EV brands thanks to its model line-up’s bold designs, competitive pricing, and excellent range offerings.

Table Of Current EV Models

Currently, Kia offers three EV models: the Kia Niro EV compact SUV, the Polestar 2 and BMW i4-rivaling Kia EV6, and the Kia EV9; a full-sized SUV described by TopSpeed.com as a game changer earlier in 2024. On the back of its all-electric success story, Kia has announced that its EV3, a smaller SUV aiming to address the key EV issues of range, charging infrastructure, and pricing, will come to the US in early 2025 with a $30,000 starting price.

10 Mercedes-Benz EQ

Year Of Foundation: 1926 | First Mass-Market Production EV – Mercedes-Benz EQC: 2019

Mercedes revealed its all-electric EQ sub-brand at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, and it’s Stuttgart’s answer to Audi’s e-tron range, and BMW’s i lineup. The EQ models are based on a single modular platform, and Mercedes estimates that the sub-brand will make up between 15 percent and 25 percent of all of its global sales by 2025.

Table Of Current EV Models

In the United States, Mercedes offers six all-electric models; the EQB SUV, EQE SUV, EQS SUV, and the flagship EQS SUV Maybach, which has an MSRP of $179,900. The sedan offerings are the BMW i5-rivaling EQE Sedan, and the BMW i7-rivaling EQS Sedan; both of which receive the AMG treatment. Thanks to their respective 677 and 751 horsepower outputs, both models return supercar-rivaling acceleration and straight-line performance. Mercedes is expected to drop the EQ branding by the end of the 2020s, as it assimilates its regular ICE models into its electrified line-up.